Getting the Doodle Groove on - The Hippie Gromit

Gromit is a mess right now - his coat has grown out from his last appointment at the poodle spa. He is starting to get that dread lock matting of a doodle coat look. He has started to roll in the grass more and ask for face scratches more. All signs that he needs a bath and a cut. He doesn't care though - he looks so darned cute when his fur is this long, you can barely see his eye.

I was reading an excerpt from Through a Dog's Eyes by Jennifer Arnold, that was posted on the Doodle Forum. The excerpt was the author's opinion on whether or not dogs experience emotions. She quoted Patricia McConnell and gave the usual, you can't ask a dog so how can you know and what does science tell us and finally a tear jerking story about her dog...song and dance? I don't mince words here on my blog -I believe Gromit has emotions. I am also pretty sure that my ideas of what he experiences are not always likely what he experiences but they are my own projection of what I think it might be like to be him. I have no true idea at all and I keep trying to tune in - who knows....but you would be hard pressed to tell me he doesn't experience emotions - joy, excitement, adoration, humor and sometimes morose boredom...

So recently we lost our dear sweet Tiace. She was a 21 year old tabby cat. She was white and black and gold and had fur that was as soft as a rabbit. She was fond of big dogs and she was great pals with a horse who died many years before Tiace. As a kitten, she was found sleeping on the back of this horse and lived in the barn with the horse for at least a year.

She was photographed sleeping with our dogs, curled up in their leg pit, pushed against a belly on the bed soaking in the sunshine from the windows.

Later in her life she supported Kristin's work at home effort by hanging out on her desk all day while she worked. As she aged Kristin bought her a heating pad for her to sleep on to ease her joints and keep her comfortable. She hunted Kristin's lunch every day and had a penchant for tortilla chips. Hard to describe her little tiny mouth crunching a big tortilla chip. She would close her eyes and concentrate as she crunched through the chip.

Gromit was always very gentle with Tiace. I cannot imagine the control it took for him - he is such a big floppy dog but he can be very accurate with the nuzzling nose. He would nuzzle and breath into Tiace's little orange ears and lap the top of her head ever so gently with his tongue and sometimes give her a little dog hello, nudging her in her back end. Always easy and slow and soft and ever aware of her growing joint pain and need to have space to get around.

As Tiace started to fail Gromit would trail her places and kept track of her. One time we thought she was gone and he ran downstairs and pointed her out to us, she was in the shower on the 1st floor resting. She never went to the first floor. Then there was the day she somehow drifted into the upstairs water closet - behind the toilet. Another place we rarely if ever would see her. Again, he spotted her and helped us keep track of her.

When we took her to the vet the last time and he greeted us at the door tail wagging and sniffing endlessly - my pants, the empty cat crate, Kristin and then he ran upstairs. We called him back down. Now I am sure there are many reasons he sniffed my pants - not the least the fact that there were probably many great smells on my clothes from the clinic. The fact that he sniffed me and then sniffed Kristin and then the crate and then ran upstairs though - that was hard.

As the next couple of days passed, Gromit and I would go to the park or for a walk. Each time we came home he scrambled in the door and raced upstairs. I couldn't figure this out. In the past when animals I had went to the rainbow bridge it seemed they spoke amongst themselves and had things worked out. This was different though. If someone asked me I would have had to say Gromit was confused and looking for Tiace. Eventually we contacted an animal communicator.

When I asked about Tiace and how she was doing I almost felt bad bothering her little soul, the animal communicator described finding her in a state that she could only describe as like a euphoria. Since we had bothered her already we asked if she and Gromit had talked since she moved on and did Gromit know she was on the other side. The animal commuicator helped interpret that Tiace had neglected to tell Gromit that she was moving on and then said the most amazing thing. She said Tiace had given Gromit a job to find her body for us if she passed while we were away or sleeping. Then the animal communicator started to ask if Tiace wanted help explaining things to Gromit but as she was asking Tiace, that little Tiace got down in Gromit's face and explained that she had moved on and thanked him for taking such good care to protect her and then leaned over and gave him a kiss on his head - just like Gromit had done to Tiace for the 4.5 years they lived together. There must have been a heck of a light shining between the two of them in that second. I found this incredibly heartwarming and sweet. I truly think Tiace and Gromit had some genuine respect and kindness for each other - I am not sure exactly what it means.

Today at the dog park a woman was talking to Gromit and called him a boy and then questioned herself out loud about his gender and I laughed and looked up and said "we call him our metrosexual dog" it doesn't really matter to him what his gender is I don't think. She laughed, but I have to say I don't think it does matter to Gromit - Chewie, definitely, all boy/man dog he would care. Gromit however, is his own groovy dog - he makes up his own fun, enjoys a smile, and lives his life much more sensitively than anyone would likely give him credit for being. He notices the finest detail and change in climate at the house and is only intrusive with his alarming bark. He was friends with the cat who was friends with the horse. He is my easy going flower dog - my hippie Gromit!